I watched Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night. I resisted the impulse to post my thoughts here last night, allowing time to properly set a context.
Wow.
It addressed all the questions people had about him, his strengths, his weaknesses, and he set 'em up and he knocked them down. I was amazed. There are very few times in my life when I was doing something that I realized that I was in the zone and that I was knocking it out of the park. One was when I was part of a debate team taking the con position on animal testing and I gave my presentation. I recall having a hard time finding articles and facts against the position, but I finally found some, and it was one of the few times I worked a long time over a high school project. The other was when I tried out for Tevya in "Tevya And His Daughters" (Think Fiddler On The Roof without the singing) The drama club teacher thought I was more suited for Lazar Wolf, one of Tevya's daughter's would be suitors, but I asked for, and got the chance, to try out for Tevya. And it was during the audition I knew I knocked it out of the park (I got the part). That was the feeling I got when I watched the speech. If you missed it you can read it here, but it's like reading a newspaper story about a great game, or reading the lyric sheet to your favorite album if you've never listened to it.
I remember hearing him speak on CSPAN a couple of years ago when I went to my mom's house to do something for her. Hearing him speak of hope and promise was a welcome alternative to the televangelists Kathy has on that relys on the Catholic hat trick of fear,guilt, and shame (thanks to Andy for the phrase) to extol the virtues they're peddling (and to send money. Joyce's plastic surgery isn't going to pay for itself, you know). If any person of faith could tap into the skills Obama demonstrated last night...imagine someone who doesn't use fear, guilt, or shame to persuade you, but told you of Heaven and the glory of getting right with God using words and skills so great you would do anything for it. That you would give up your vices and other things on the no-no list without a second thought.
Someone that can tell you it's possible, but you have to roll up your sleeves and work for it. That you don't have to give in to fear or cynicism.
"They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that’s to be expected. Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
"You make a big election about small things.
"And you know what – it’s worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn’t work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it’s best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know."
Imagine someone who wants to end the division in our country and have us work to make it better:
"We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America’s promise – the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort."
And someone that offers a viable choice over the alternative:
"John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a ten percent chance on change." And don't forget: "John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives."
I'm going to stop before I end up quoting the whole speech here. But this is someone who offers promise, someone who isn't promising the moon, but a dream, and isn't promising to give it you, but inviting you to help work for it. This is someone whom I'm voting for, not voting against the other guy.
And watching some of the post-speech analysis on CNN, a lot of Hillary supporters have been swayed by the speech as well. As Mark Evanier has written, I don't think there's as many disenfranchised Hillary supporters as the media would lead you to believe.
And then this morning McCain announces his vice-presidential pick. Talk about too little, too late. Kathy was saying yesterday that she thought a black woman would be selected, perhaps Condaleeza Rice, and reacted to the news that one out of two wasn't bad. But wasn't one of the Repugnicans' main talking points against Obama was his lack of experience. How can they bring it up now without it backfiring? I guess they'll fall back on their repeated mantra of "Obama=Celebrity" that they've been hammering on the past few weeks.
I've got an idea. Why don't we start talking, too? That's the main reason I wrote this post this evening, after the websites have moved on from the speech last night. I had to do some digging to find the text, and it was about 24 hours since it occured. I wanted to share with you what I thought and felt. I'm looking forward to the debates now. But why don't we talk as well? Especially when someone brings up one of these talking points they've gotten from their fear-mongering superiors? Maybe if enough of us share the dream, we can achieve it instead of suffering in silence as the darkness continues it's encroachment.
And I've been hearing about the vetting process going on for selecting a Democratic vice-president, didn't the Repugnicans have anything similar to that, too? Or were they so anxious to get a token female on the ticket that they totally overlooked this?
Maybe you've read all this and you're not swayed. It's politics, so I'd say there's at least a 99% chance of that. But what it comes down to is: If you're happy with the way things have been for the past 8 years, vote McCain. If you think the country is going in the wrong direction and needs to change, vote Obama. I apologize to the other parties and their candidates, and I wish I could see their candidates as a viable option. If any of you have any idea how that could be done in this election (heck, if you have an idea how to make them or their party get 15% and be eligible for matching funds) I would be interested in finding out. But like it or not, symbolic vote or not, the next President is going to be one of those two gentlemen.